June 28, 2019 - It's Up to the Top We Go

We saw the Eiffel Tower in 2017, taking a Skip-the-Line Tour (which, by the way, is the best type of tour to take to see these famous sites), and only went to the second level.  This time, however, we were determined to see Paris from the very top - no how long the line was to get on the elevator nor how much sweat rolled down our backs as it was still in the 90s at 7 p.m.

And we did it.  😃

We were very glad we took this tour in the evening since we have been visiting the City of Light with historical record-setting temps.  The breeze was nice while we sat along the lawn area before the Tower.  Great place to people watch...we saw a couple become engaged, about 10 twenty-somethings enjoying lots of shots (you can drink alcohol in the open in public places), parents of all nationalities chasing after their young ones, and even witnessed a guy spraying water from water blaster at the pretty girls walking by, who then called him a few choice words after getting wet.  It doesn't matter what nationality you are, as****e and f****r are spoken the same in every language.  We learn something new every day.  😉

Throughout our visit here so far, for some silly reason, when folks learn we are from Minnesota, they think its cold 365 days a year and are surprised to learn that we also experience soaring temps during our summers.  One gentleman had to be reassured though the winters were very cold.  

We met our group at 9:15 p.m. at a Souvenir Shop, which was about a 5 minute walk from the Eiffel Tower.  Leo was our guide and was extremely knowledgeable and dramatic as he spoke about the monument and its location in the city.  We learned a few new tidbits of trivia that we didn't learn back in 2017.  Leo was funny and refreshing to listen to.  Glad we had him as our guide.

Here are a few sites from the Ground level:

Beautiful Gardens line the Mall

The phones we have take fantastic pictures -  this site never gets old.

This site never gets old either.  :)  XXOO

On our way up...(turn up your volume)

A few sites from the 2nd Level

In the photo below you are looking at the River Seine to the Right....

The closest bridge seen in the photo is named the Alma Bridge. It was named to commemorate the Battle of Alma during the Crimean War (per Wikipedia).  This particular bridge was also dedicated to Princess Diana as the bridge is closest to the tunnel where Princess Diana lost her life in 1997.

And as you look at the River Seine to the left.  

There are four bridges visible in the picture below.  The second bridge from the top is a replica of the Statue of Liberty, which was gifted to France from the U.S. in 1889 to commemorate the 100th Anniversary of the French Revolution.  France gifted the U.S. with the Statue of Liberty in 1886 (a much larger scale than what the U.S. gifted).  The Paris statue faces West towards her big sister in NYC.  The Parisians truly refer to both as the big sister and little sister.  

The road to the right of the River Seine is dedicated to President JFK.

In the below photo, as you are looking straight ahead of the Eiffel Tower are the grassy lawn areas where John and I were first waiting for our tour earlier in the evening.  The grass is somewhat "dead" for lack of rain at this time.  Off in the distance, at the end of the lawn area is the Palais de Chaillot, which is another one of those structures built for the an Exhibition in 1937.  More historically, this building was where Hitler stood in front to have his picture taken with the Eiffel Tower in the background.  

That tall structure in the background in the below photo....yeah, that is an eye sore to the entire Parisian population.  It was built thinking this area would become the business district of the city.  That was not the case.  According to Leo our guide, this will be the area in which the 2024 Olympics will be taking place and this structure will be taken down.  Leo was not convinced that will happen, but he did express how much the people of this city hate that building.  

Just a view looking down from the 2nd level

In the far distance in the below photo you can see Paris' highest point - home to Basilique du Sacre-Coeur de Montmartre or the Basilica of the Sacred Heart of Paris.  In 2017, John and I journeyed to this religious site with our friends Lauri and her mom Sheri.  We did not tour the inside of the Basilica, but life is most certainly celebrated around it.  It's a beautiful location and very glad we were able to share the views with our friends.

WE MADE IT TO THE TOP!

Celebrating our journey to the top of the Eiffel Tower with a bit (and I mean a teeny bit) of bubbly!

Those two teeny glasses weren't even full and they cost 35,00€ - but it was completely worth every drop!

Just a few incredible twilight views from the very top of the Eiffel Tower.  When it is dark, the spotlights shine down and around the entire city.

We decided to take the stairs from the third level down to the second level as we didn't want to wait in another long line.  To keep myself focused, I counted the steps....343 steps between the third and second levels.  What was impressive,  we passed two young gentlemen going UP the steps.  

We couldn't have asked for a better evening to enjoy our final views of this iconic monument.  And to top the entire evening off, the US Women's soccer team won the match against the "home team", France and the game was being played somewhere in Paris,

Thanks for stopping by!